call in

present singular third person calls in · participle present calling in · participle past called in · past called in

1. copulativeintransitiveTo communicate with a base etc, by telephone.

   I was too unwell to work yesterday so I called in sick.

   Synonyms: phone in

2. transitiveTo report; communicate (a message) by telephone or similar.

   The hoaxer called in a bomb threat.

   1 more example

   Paul Cottrell, the department's marine mammal co-ordinator, says a rescue team found the whale off Texada Island after the ferry passenger called it in on Thursday, and managed to free the animal from "recreational prawn gear" that was stuck in its mouth.

   2024 July 27, The Canadian Press, “Rescuers untangle gear from humpback whale off B.C.'s coast”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 15 Dec 2025

   Synonyms: phone in

3. intransitiveTo pay a short visit.

   Near-synonym: call on (transitive)

   1 more example

   I'll call in this afternoon to pick up my prescription.

   Synonyms: pop in, call on

4. transitiveTo summon someone, especially for help or advice.

   The government called in the army to deal with the riots.

   1 more example

   By the latter part of 1848, the throne of Hudson the Railway King who had been called in in 1845 as a superman to save the Eastern Counties Railway, was tottering to its fall, […]

   1941 December, Kenneth Brown, “The Newmarket & Chesterford Railway—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 533

   Synonyms: summon

5. transitiveTo withdraw something from sale or circulation.

   Synonyms: recall

6. transitiveTo request immediate repayment of (a debt).